It seems that the worst thing you can call a white person is 'racist.' A common scene at 'diversity workshops': a white person gets corrected in her prejudices and then SHE'S the one in tears and being comforted.

It hurts to get called out, especially if it not done in a loving way. But throwing a fit because your feelings are hurt only serves to derail the conversation from the larger issues at hand. Even if you were falsely accused or you were misinterpreted, are you really trying to pit this moment of discomfort against centuries of on ongoing oppression?

We need to have grace for each other in conversations about race: both for those that make ignorant statements, and for those that react with passionate anger to those statements. Is Bush a racist? Absolutely. So am I (see post: Defining Racism). Racism is like any sin: recognizing that we are broken is the first step to fixing it.

Denial isn't going to get us anywhere. We are all prejudiced and all white folks receive benefits from the color of their skin. Many other factors of privilege may intermingle and confuse the issue, but the truth remains that racial prejudice is a prevalent and persistent beast in each one of us as members of racial majority.

Does Bush 'not care about black people'? I don't know his heart. But I do know that our black brothers and sisters go through a lot of struggles that white folks as a whole don't care about, or don't even pause to consider. We go about our lives benefiting from institutionalize racial privileged, not even realizing we have them, let alone actively working against them. I think it is probably fair to assume that Bush is like most white people. So yes, he and we are racist.

Rather than getting all in a huff about being called a name that probably does apply, it would have been nice if Bush had addressed the issue head on. He could have said "Yes, and I am sorry. I don't know if I would have acted differently if the hurricane had struck Boston, but I know I am a product of a culture that makes value judgments based on color and that I am susceptible to those biases. I am working to correct that in myself and I am sorry for the pain that I cause in the meantime." But it takes guts to say something like that, even if you aren't in the national spotlight.

To some extent, white offense stems from a barrier that we put up between ourselves and those "real racists" (see Basically Good). As in: "we aren't burning crosses, so we must be alright. And don't you dare lump me in with those folks." Unfortunately, this characterization means that modern racism is alive and well and is allowed to run rampant.

Monday, November 15, 2010

We have had conversations with several of the readers here about the definition of racism and how white folk percieve this concept. This post recently appeared on the blog Love Isn't Enough and I thought it had some good characterizations:

I don’t mean under the sanction of black people. I mean in places where there are no black people. It almost feels like, among whites, to be accused of being a racist is a class slur. Like racist is short for “inbred uncultured hick.” It’s fascinating.

Coates’ readers responded, and the conversation was both thoughtful and thought-provoking. I’d like to draw attention to a few comments, which I thought were right on the money.

Comment 1:

It’s funny. This paranoia about “seeming” and being acknowledged as a good person was present even when slavery/racism were legally institutionalized. Slaveowners, businesspeople, all of them recognized the same thing we’re still astounded by, that they were privileged and empowered, and they tried to do “generous” things that would make them feel better. I’m paraphrasing Anthony Keyes a historian here, but the nature of their largesse was such that the institution would never have to change.

The upshot of all this anxiety is still in the end to not alter the locus of power and privilege. Not getting past this guilt, laying the charge on future generations to grow up in a world without guilt, is just one more step inserted in the process to slow down the present journey of getting somewhere useful. It’s keeping the dialogue on glass, on sensitivities.

Comment 2:

My current theory is that we have the pictures and videos of the white hatred during the civil rights struggles, including against school children. We say to ourselves that is what racism looks like, and I would never do that so therefore I’m not a racist. I don’t think you’ll find any white persons (very few, anyway) who would defend those contorted angry white faces, but I think we are ready to pat ourselves on the back for not being like that. We let a black driver pull out in front of us and say to ourselves, “I’m not a racist. No sir, not me.” We nod at a mixed race couple at a restaurant and say to ourselves, “My grandfather would have punched that black so-and-so in the nose, but not me. See how civilized I am.” We have a black family living in our suburban neighborhood and congratulate ourselves that it doesn’t even bother us. To my chagrin, I find myself making the same arguments, and then I realize what I’m doing and I’m ashamed.

We have defined racism down to the most virulent level and everything else is OK, proof that we’re not racists. This is probably similar to what the owners of those contorted angry faces were thinking in the fifties, “I think slavery is bad, so therefore I can’t be a racist.”

Comment 3:

Of all people, I think Jane Smiley actually nailed this in her now famous essay where she blasts Mark Twain and “Huck Finn,” arguing that we should be reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in schools instead. Smiley said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that the problem with white people was that they tended to believe that racism was a feeling, or an emotion, rather than a deep institutional reality that existed outside of one person’s capacity for rationalization–that way, the white person could always simply gauge their own feelings at the moment and determine they weren’t racist: “Gee, I don’t hate black people, so of course I’m not racist.”

Comment 4:

To be considered a racist, as a white person, is one of several things:

a) You are saying or do something that, on the face of it is racist. And yet you don’t feel like you hate them black people. So you can’t be racist. ‘Cause racism is hate, and you don’t feel hate.

b) You are a bad person, and “racist” is a convenient word to throw at you. There is no defense, and trying to defend yourself simply makes you look worse and worse.

c) You are completely blind to the idea that other people who don’t look like you might actually have their own, valid viewpoints and values; said people do not need your approval for them to go on living and being satisfied with their lives. You think, however, that if you feel a warm sense of approval you are being non-racist.

d) You think that the people who don’t look like you would be normal if they would just think like you do and do things like you do; however, you will never really accept them because they are not white – they will simply still be second-class, but they will be an acceptable second class.

e) You realize that to be safe and to fit in, you have led an unexamined life where casual racism is disguised as discernment and value-judging. The idea that you might really be racist is deeply unpleasant to you, because you know racism is wrong. And yet, you realize that you are deeply unhappy with the way things are, so you decide to risk everything and think, “Maybe I am racist. Just a bit. Where it’s not so bad.”

f) You are a racist, and realize it, and you are saddened and ashamed and yet you realize that the first step to stepping out of racism is to realize how thoroughly tainted you are with it.

Readers, what do you think? What rings true, or doesn’t, about these comments? How would you answer Coates’ question?

Comments

comment 2 is very well stated and I think quite true. It is this perseption that contributes to the difficulties of educating white folks about racism and the privileges they receive. In my experience it is essential to break down the perception that racism is limited to extreamists and is rather a condition common to all white folks as benafactors of institutionalized systems of racial preference. Sometimes McIntosh’s Invisible Knapsack is a staring place to open eyes from an accessible source and I like Dr. Tatum’s writtings on these matters as well. Practical, concrete everyday examples of privilege are helpful in demonstrating the widespread nature of racism and moving beyond the narrowly defined characacterisation of ‘cross-burning rasist’ that cause white folk to baulk at that classification. Identifying and recognizing one’s self as racist is an essential first step in white folks’ racial understanding.

Posted 10 Nov 2010 at 11:36 am

E wrote:

I think those comments are spot on, especially #4. There is definitely a white blindness to the subtle forms of racism, and in the case of two people I know, confusion as to racism vs. prejudice. As in, racism is the extreme behavior seen in the Civil Rights era & prejudice is when you don’t associate with POC personally but you have no problems associating with them professionally – you have African-American work friends, but not personal friends. You wouldn’t do anything to actively discriminate against them (racism, by my coworker’s definition) but they have a different culture & you’re not interested in developing friendships with them (”just a little prejudice” – again her definition).

And I would add that in my state, the word “racism” instantly brings to mind Caucasian vs. African-American. Racism against Latinos is creeping into that mental image, but American Indians and other POC? Doesn’t even register.

In other words, my coworker’s feeling was that being “a little prejudiced” toward people unlike you was natural and, while I got her to admit it was something to be embarrassed about, she still said it wasn’t “racism.”